Which way to the sausage party?

Today's plan, girls only BBQ. I took this picture of the last one we had. It got a little crazy. After each doing our own song and dance routine we had a panty, tickle, pillow fight.

Gosh we sure got the giggles from that.

I'll let you know how this one goes. Stay tuned.

Now what?

We have had plans for the long weekend since the beginning of the summer. They all went for shit. Superman's come down with his annual "public transit virus". It seems to happen every year, when the weather changes and he takes the bus in to work as opposed to riding his bike. Buses are just huge germ pods and it seems like the change of season brings that first virus on for him every time. Soooo.....

I have the time off and the road trip vehicle at my disposal, I must figure out something to do. It's tons of fun road tripping in this car! Her name is Big Momma and she drives like a dream, is super comfy to be in and load up with luggage or gear or anything else for that matter. She also gets a lot of attention. There's no flipping people off or aggressive driving in a car with big pink flowers and the name of your business plastered all over it. But that's okay, it's worth it to see the reaction when you drive by little kids and women who are interested in the shop. We have even had men come up to the window of the car and ask for business cards for their wives. Best advertising dollars we have ever spent.

I just don't know what a girl can possibly plan at the last minute on a long weekend. I don't have reservations for anything or any idea were I might end up. It's kind of exciting as long as I do something with this time.

Any ideas?

Who do you love?

Yesterday was a full day. Much of it involved work and the task of buying clothing and accessories for the shop. It's coming up on market time when all of the suppliers get all their samples in for NEXT SPRING and invite all the buyers to come and have a look and place orders. It's fun and exhausting but it's also frustrating because we buy two full seasons ahead, that means we are buying for Spring 2009. I think it's a tough way to do things and I wish we could buy one season ahead instead so we could stay a little closer to reality, but that's how it's done here on the West Coast.
After a full day of that I rushed home to recieve a visit from my sister-in-law and my niece and nephew. They were in town for the day visiting the Aquarium. Turns out we had about an hour to see each other as I was rushing off to a band practice after dinner. It was so great to see them, the kids are 8 and 5 and we enjoy them so much. We hung out for a while, Jacob played some x-box and rachel tormented her Uncle Superman. That kid LOVES her Uncle SM, she can not leave him alone. She sits on his lap and pulls his ears and hits him over the head with pillows, steals his hat and then hides it and makes him look for it. She looks him in the eye and says, "I am starting a club, the secret password is Boys Drool, Girls Rule!" I love watching the two of them together, makes me laugh. Jacob is getting so big, he turns on the x-box the minute he comes in the door and plugs in Kill All Humans. "Dude", "I wasted that guy".
We find both kids adorable, and extremely funny. It was so good to see them even if it was a short visit. It meant a lot to us.

What can I say?

Feeling tired and low tonight. I have friends and they have problems and although I care so very much, I just don't know what to say anymore. I want my friends to be happy, I really do but some of the behaviours that are occurring are frankly, alarming.

I am always the voice of reason and the comfort on the other end of the phone. I do it because I care and because I seem to be able to comfort people but sometimes I just don't know if it's a good idea.

Sometimes it backfires.

When my younger brother's marriage was breaking up he called me to tell me what was going on. I was desperately trying to understand what he was telling me and asked a lot of questions. I was pretty shocked by what I heard, I had no idea there were problems so I had a lot to digest. I also spoke to his wife around this time, we have always had a good relationship and I really wanted to understand better. My brother took this as a betrayal and judgment and apart from a visit at our parents where nothing was acknowledged and a poisonous email from him to me and one back from me to him, he has not spoken to me since. It's been months. I haven't seen my niece and nephew since then or spoken to my sister-in-law. I don't feel comfortable visiting the town they live in and my heart is broken. I have tried to contact him but he will not call me back. I refuse to carry on any more email correspondence because I feel like it's a bad way to communicate strong feelings. Too easy to misunderstand and once you push send you can't take it back.

I wasn't going to bring it up here but it's always on my mind and I feel like, with all this talk about my life and all the great stuff that is going on there is still a part that is broken.

Just like everybody else.

I have no soothing advice for myself.

Team- No Babies!

I wrote this comment on a friends blog and I thought I would share it here. She is in her early 30's and definitely doesn't want babies. She has struggled with different birth contol and been on the pill for many years. She has always known she doesn't want kids and her husband agrees. Her doctor refuses to tie her tubes because she might change her mind.
You can go here to read her words.

Here's my comment...

Makes me so mad!I never understood why CHOOSING not to have babies isn’t celebrated. I mean, for every person I know who accidentally got pregnant or whose baby making decision was based on “let’s see what happens”, for all the people who got pregnant to fix a relationship or attach themselves to a partner, or just figured “it’s just one more” or “I always wanted 5 kids” or had one more to keep the only child company, more thought is put into getting a pet.Why don’t we get a fucking parade?? I mean seriously, we should be having No-Baby Showers, you can buy us trips to adult only resorts, whisky and cigarettes and bottles of toxic cleaners that we can store on easy to access bottom shelves.I don’t care what your choice is but if it’s No Babies it should be respected and appreciated. Last time I checked we still had a choice but it seems like very few people actually make the choice and the only one that counts is pro babies.You can guess what team I play for. Sorry for the rant.

Carry on.

Will you be mine?

How precious is she?? Like a shiny red apple. sigh...

Let's all get one 'k?

Are you going?

Ahhh summer. It just wouldn't be without the PNE.

Me and the girls made a last minute decision to go check out the fair last night and we had quite a time. We ate many deep fried things and walked a lot and won some money on the money wheel and then hit the casino. All I am going to say about that is...What happens at the PNE- STAYS at the PNE.

One of my favourite parts of the fair is the barns, we saw horses and cows and pigs and bunnies and baby ducks and watched chicks pull themselves out of their eggy homes and then fall over from exhaustion. It was mesmerizing watching them so closely to see if they were alive or dead or just soooo tired. I think there was a bit of each going on there. Anyway, I enjoyed my Huevos Rancheros this morning just a little less than usual.

I am also looking forward to winning the Prize Home this year because it looks fabulous and will be plunked down on Gibsons, on the Sunshine Coast, a place I wouldn't mind retiring on one day. Wouldn't that be something??

The sun is shining today and I need to figure out a way to go out there and enjoy it.

Happy Saturday everybody!!

Why were the elephants thrown out of the swimming pool?

A: Because they couldn't hold their trunks up!

We went to the pool this morning in the drizzling rain. It was chilly but so few people and once we got in the water it was warm and cozy in the. You have to keep moving though, otherwise the chilly catches up with you. With no alluring sunshine to distract from the workout I feel like I worked a little harder than usual. This summer has been great for me as far as getting off my ass and getting some exercise. I feel myself getting stronger every day and I love the way my body is starting to feel and look. Swimming is the perfect sport for me. I have always loved the water and learned to be a strong swimmer at a young age.

I have plans to start swimming at a new ozone pool in Burnaby when the outdoor pool shuts down in the fall. It's about 20 minutes away, about the same distance as Kits pool is from my house. Why would I drive 20 minutes away when I have a community pool 2 blocks away from my home? The big problems I have with the older, closer pool is cleanliness and chemicals. The old pool always feels dirty to me. I don't know if they just don't care anymore or if it's just impossible to keep clean due to the age of the facility. I have a real problem with big hunks of hair all over the shower floor and general unclean conditions when I am wandering around the change room. The whirlpool has a permanent foam of cast off cosmetics, creams and skin that floats by under my chin. No Sir, I don't care for it. It gives me the willies.

The new pool is clean and pristine, it's well laid out and bright, the pool itself is large with great lanes and lots of room for fooling around if your not doing laps. There is also a children's area that is away from the main area and a hot tub that doesn't make you feel like you're taking a bath with a bunch of strangers. The best part is the pool is cleaned with ozone as opposed to chlorine. It's easier on the skin, hair, eyes and swimsuit, and I like all of those things to remain, soft, supple, clear and intact in that order. Next week I will be purchasing some training flippers and will probably break down and start wearing the swim cap I've been carrying in my bag all summer. Between the ear plugs, the swim cap, the goggles and the flippers and of course the swim suit it is clear to me that accessories will once again play a fairly large role in my morning workout. That's okay, I love to accessorize!

Oh ya, I think I may have committed to a 3 day a week fitness "boot camp" starting in the fall too. I hate the name "boot camp", it's all the rage now but I think it only conjures up thoughts of suffering, doing push ups in a mud puddle and getting yelled at by someone way fitter and bigger than I am. That is something that scares the shit out of me but that's just not enough of a reason not to do it. I have been reassured that it won't be like that.

I will keep you posted.

Who's on first?

This is a sign written on the wall of the women's washroom at Nat Bailey Stadium. Cool!

I love baseball, I was brought up on it, I've played for years and I love watching it at this stadium. The Vancouver Canadians used to be a triple A farm team but now they are a single A team for Oakland Athletics. The players are younger but sometimes that makes for great baseball. They make more mistakes so the the game can be quite exciting to watch.

Last night's game was excellent! It had all the right elements including a out of the park home run, a hot box between 1st and 2nd a come from behind win for our guys.

There was also a very obnoxious chicken mascot guy that really pissed me off when he started bugging the 3rd baseman to dance and then stole his glove and threw it over the fence. I realized later that it was a whole show they were putting on and it ended up being pretty funny when he and the actual ump broke into a synchronized dance routine. Jeez, those guys put on a hell of a show.

Nat Bailey Stadium is about two blocks away from our home and it has to be one of the most beautiful venues around to watch great baseball.

I was in great company too as George and Lorna invited me to join them, we always have fun together.

It just so happened that we were the only ones watching the game in our section as there was a group sitting in front of us that consisted of little Jasper who was turning 4 and about a dozen of his little buddies ranging in age from about 4 months to 4 years. At first we were a little worried about fussy whiny kids ruining things for us but they just kept running up and down the stairs with their parents. Up and down, back and forth standing, sitting, eating, drinking. Tiring to watch. They seemed to be having fun but I gotta wonder whose idea it was to take that many kids, that late to a baseball game. I'm guessing it was the Daddy. He was suckin' down the beers pretty hard and having a good ole time.

That's why I play on Team No Babies. I got to drink beer come home and fall into bed.

Flamenco and baseball?

We have some catching up to do! I'll cut to the chase. I never told you about Friday night. At the building we live in there is a beautiful communal garden and the staff here have thrown a couple of events for the residents since the building opened up in December, this is the first one I have attended. I have to explain, the building we live in is unlike anything else anywhere I know of. The people that own it and the folks that run the place on a day to day basis go above and beyond at any cost to make things very special here.

They work very hard to create an atmosphere of community and luxury for the residents and it is truly unique and very special.

For this event, they built a stage high up in one corner of the garden and hired an amazing Flamenco band/dancer to entertain us. They also prepared an amazing meal of chicken and beef fajitas, paella, and salad. It was byob and people certainly did that.

The evening went off without a hitch until the very end of the night when one of the staff became very ill due to some sort of allergic reaction. It was really scary and ended with a visit from the ambulance, fire department and the person being taken to hospital unconscious.

Because of that and the fact that I was one of the few people there when it happened, I stuck through to help however I could and ended up falling into bed sometime after 3:30 am.

Everybody is fine and everything is back to normal. Quite a night.

Later today I will talk about the baseball game I went to last night, and mascots that need nut kickings and coming from behind to win the game. Later!

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

That's right! The soothing enjoyment of sun, fun and splashing.

Not to mention that special ear piercing scream that only little girls can produce, the one that makes dogs run away and makes little rivulets of blood come out of your ears. I truly wonder if I was ever capable of making that sound. It's hard to believe now because I have an extremely low voice for a woman, especially in the morning, especially the morning after.

It's still pretty hot so the pool will be well attended this morning.

I'll post again later today but first, I just wanted to mention how much I am enjoying my Apple iPod 80 GB with Special Edition iSkin Claro, because Holy Crap I got a lot of hits the last time I mentioned it.

Have a great day, I'll catch up with you later.

You're a real live outlaw, aren't ya?"

We watched Thelma and Loise the other night. I don't think I had seen it since the year it came out. That was 1991 and it was pretty fun to see the big hair and high waisted jean, cowgirl fashion of the early 90's and of course Brad Pitt so young and pretty.

The tag line for that movie is "Somebody said get a life... so they did". I have to say I really enjoyed it this time around too and had forgotten a lot of the funny bits like when Thelma comes into the diner after having hot sex with Brad Pitt's character and she's all silly and excited and Loise says "You finally got laid properly, I'm so proud."

Or when Thelma says to J.D. (Brad Pitt), "You're a real live outlaw, aren't ya?" And he says, "Well I may be an outlaw, darlin', but you're the one stealing my heart." How on earth could he say that with a straight face?

Then there's the ending, I don't think I am ruining it for anyone here but that ending is so unsatisfying and just....over. And I forgot all about the kiss they give each other before they decide to "keep going". The dvd we had had some special features, the making of the movie and commentary and stuff. It also had something called Extended Alternative Ending!!! We refused to watch it. All I could think of was maybe they were going to show the car hitting the canyon floor??? How could you extend that ending I wonder? More chasing, more goodbyes? More flying through the air? Some things are better left alone.

I have to say, I have some pretty strong relationships with my women friends and that is something I really relate to in this movie. Would I kill someone for a friend or go on the run from the law? May I never have to ask myself that question for real. Would I go on a road trip in a '66 Thunderbird and stop off at a roadhouse for some 90's line dancing and pick up Brad Pitt even though I know he's not really a student trying to get back to school??

Well hell ya!

I can have???

WANT!!!!!

For Me???

I got my new toy!!!

Lorna and I both ordered these little beauties with our Avion points. It's an Apple iPod 80 GB with Special Edition iSkin Claro. I know, right? 80 freakin' GB! It still has that new electronics smell and I can hardly wait to fill it with heaps of music and pictures and, and I dunno, games? This feels a bit like one of those life altering pieces of technology. I've never had a personal music thingy before, it's just too exciting. So far I've put my entire catalogue of Gram Parsons on it, I loaded Adele and Duffy on it too because it came recommended and I rarely listen to "New" music. Sounds pretty darn good.

Between this little puppy and my cell phone and my digital camera that I never leave home without, I will have one heavy, technology laden handbag. I might need to start using my new Heyes suitcase as a purse. Just enough points left over to get this little gem of a suitcase I have always wanted.

I am a certified spoiled brat. I hope that if you knew me you might think I deserved it but I wouldn't blame you if you thought I was spoiled rotten.

I can live with that.

Mayne Again?

It was back to Mayne Island again on Friday night to play a wedding party for Ross and Sandra on their property. This time we had our solid rhythm section along for the ride. Here's a picture of the boys on the ferry. Kinda look like monkeys in a zoo, don't you think?

We were treated to a beautiful sunset on the ferry.

We arrived at Dave's house and had a little pre-party with the rest of the band and actually made it to bed at a reasonable hour. The next morning it was off to the local pub for a yummy breakfast. It was obvious that the wedding was going to be well attended and the folks at the pub all seemed to know we were going to be the entertainment and assured us that they had a great time at our gig the week before and there was going to be a lot of people ready to party at the wedding.

This is the view from the pub patio.

After breakfast I took a drive around the island and found Dinner Bay Park. I took a little walk through the trees and down to a pretty little beach. It would have been nice to have a swim but that water was cold.

The Japanese Garden was initiated to commemorate the island’s early Japanese Canadian settlers, was created almost entirely with equipment and time donated by the community. The gig we played the week before helped raise some money for this beautiful garden.

I thought I should check it out. I ended up having the whole garden to myself.

Back to the house for a little bit and then it was time to load up the vehicles and head over to the venue.

We arrived at the property and there was no one there, they were all at the wedding so we had a chance to set up all the gear, have a sound check and even run over some tunes.

Just as we were finishing up it started to rain. A lot.

Here is a picture of the main cabin, the entire front porch will be our stage!

The property was scattered with some really cute buildings and cabins.

Here's my favourite. Another travel trailer with a cute add on.

This is an adorable little outhouse with a sign on the side that says Nature House. I did stumble down to use it after dark. It was warm, dry, non-smelly and had a bucket of lye with a sign that said "one scoop per poop".

This little red rowboat was tucked into the corner of the yard and the swing was a lot of fun too. They also had horseshoe pits and three propane bonfires scattered around the area. A really nice set up. But.... it was really starting to rain hard when we left to go back to Dave's. We had a few hours to kill so we ate, drank, napped and showered and generally got prettied up.

Once again I seem to have packed my suitcase with my eyes closed, I sure didn't pack for a rainy, chilly show so I really ended up not having a clue what I was going to wear. I had to do some quick improvisation with a dress and a pair of scissors, I do that a lot. I managed to put together what turned out to be a cute outfit and it was time to go.

Here's a shot from the bottom of the property looking up towards the cabin/stage.

We arrived at the party in the rain and the first song was played for the bride and groom. I must say, it was my first time meeting Ross and Sandra and they were lovely people, really nice. I also couldn't help noticing that they were both extremely good looking!

And that's when the party really started!!!

The full band was Me and Rupert, Janice, Jessie, Dave, Dan and Kelly.

Here's a shot of me and Superman doing our favourite duet Jackson a-la Johnny and June.

We all put on a great show, mostly because the crowd was so incredibly into it. The rain stopped and the people danced and cheered and drank and just gave us so much fun energy that it brought our show to a new level. A real win win situation. The people of Mayne Island are pretty special. They are so friendly and welcoming and man can they party!

I just had a blast!

All good things must come to an end, we packed up sometime around 2am and loaded up the gear, back to the house and fell into bed around 3:30. Up by 10 loaded up the car with the rest of the gear and hit the ferry lineup.

Here is a picture from the car. Three ferries in this shot. They don't call it Active Pass for nothing.

Who the heck are you??

This was the sign on the door in the car deck on the ferry we took to Mayne Island. It's amazing how much fun can be had with a Sharpy. No, I didn't do it. Kinda wish I had though.

Just a quick visit here to check in, I will do a full entry of the Mayne Wedding weekend we just returned from after I have successfully slept it off. We are sooooo tired.

This weekend my site meter clocked in my 1000th hit to this blog and I couldn't be more excited! I know people are reading but to celebrate my 1000th hit I am asking you to say hello. De-lurking time is here. You can just say hi anonymously if you want but it would be great to know who you are and you can add a link to your site or blog or favourite blog or whatever you want. Come on, don't be shy!!

Does that come with headphones?

It's called iCamp. It has a place for your iPod. When I saw this, iPeed.

Thanks Michelle from Nova Scotia!!!

Just a heads up to you all, I am coming up on my 1000 hit to my blog and when that happens I expect a mass de-lurking, and/or de-pantsing. It's time some of you said hello. You have been warned.

xox

I did that?

There were a couple of mistakes and omissions in my last post that have been pointed out to me. I hope to clear these up right away.
First of all, here is a quote,
"I would like to formally lodge a complaint about your blog. Your latest entry had a title which was not posed in the form of a question. I am deeply disappointed."
What a hard ass, you know who you are.
It's true, I broke my only rule. I would like to change the name of my last post to MAYNE ISLAND? Hope that's better.
I also made to mistake of referring to somebody by their proper name instead of their code name. For this I am deeply sorry and it will never happen again. The changes have been made.
The other thing is that Rupert, I mean Superman wanted you all to know that he named the raccoon that stole our cookies GEORGE COONY.
He also named the camper van we were trying to rent Camper Van Beethoven. He calls his housecoat Duke Robe-alard, and he named our car Bluey because it's blue.
I hope that clears things up a little.
Carry on.

Mayne Island

Wow, that was a pretty fun weekend. Mayne Island was amazing, chock full of super nice people and so pretty. The gig went off really well and we had a great time staying at Dave's beautiful house. All in all it was a great and exhausting weekend. Can't wait to go back next weekend when we will be performing at a wedding of some local folks. Those Mayners sure know how to party and have fun!

Here are some photos...

Me and Superman in the ferry line up.

We left real early because we figured there would be tons of traffic being the Friday evening of a long weekend. Turns out there was no traffic at all and we got there super early and had a pretty long wait and the ferry was late so we got to Mayne Island it was already dark.

We pulled up to Dave's house and there was a party/practice going on.We had some catching up to do. All the gear was set up in his living room so we had a full band sound, lots of songs to go over because there were several players who hadn't played together and we needed to bone up on each others stuff.

The next morning I had a chance to see the island and the property in the light of day. So beautiful and a fantastic, homey, comfy house. Imagine my surprise when I saw this...

So sweet!

We went to the pub for a yummy lunch and ran into some friends from Vancouver, small world. Here is the view from the pub patio.

After lunch we went back to Dave's and I found this on his property. I just wanted to clean it up and move in. Why am I so obsessed with travel trailers. This one could be so sweet though.

Here is a shot from the back of Dave's house looking at the sheep barn up the hill.

By now it was time to pack up all the gear and take it to the Community Centre for set up and sound check. What a beautiful venue. It's brand new and just set in a gorgeous clearing surrounded by trees. We set the band up in the adjoining tent. The walls opened up to the elements, nice for setting up in the heat.

After sound check it was back to Dave's to purdy up and de-stinkify and then it was back to the venue for the dance. When we got back to the house Superman surprised this guy just outside the back door. We later discovered he had been in the kitchen and ate through our cloth shopping bag to get to the peanut butter cookies I had brought. He also ate a bowl of Jr. Mints.

Little bugger.

People don't lock their doors on Mayne Island, they also leave their keys in the ignition of their vehicles. I talked to a guy who said when he bought his house it didn't come with keys. I think closing the doors would have been a good idea though. I think the raccoon might have been trying on some of my clothes and messing around with my makeup. Little bugger.

The place was filling up fast when we got there and the crowd was eager to hit the dance floor. Everybody was so nice and friendly and they were really digging the music so it was a lot of fun for the musicians. There was a great mix of musicians from the Mayne and some from Vancouver. I got to sing back up with everybody and did a little Boomchix mini set with Janice and some honky-tonk duets with Superman. Super fun! Here are some more pics...

I didn't get any shots of Superman or me because I was busy singing. duh. This is Janice and Dave and Jessie. That's Ned on the drums. Ned is super cute!

Check out this cool shot I got of Ned through the back of the tent.

Here are some cute young gals who were having a great time dancing the night away.

After the show we packed it all up and went back to Dave's for nightcaps and munchies. I fell into bed around 4:30 am plum tuckered out.

We were up and out by 11:30 am and back in the ferry line up desperate for a coffee. The ferry snack bar had the nerve to charge us $2 a cup for a tiny tepid, weak cup of shitty coffee. They asked if we wanted cream and sugar, we said yes and were handed 3/4 of a tiny cup of coffee. Lame.

Here are some pics from the ferry home. It was so beautiful we sat out on the deck all the way back to Tsawwassen, tired, hung over and happy.

Happy BC Day!!